The Eppes Method II  A talk with Liz
by Tali1980
Summary: After Colby's punishment Don and Liz reminiscent about their time at Quantico – Warning: Description of Spanking, no slash


**The Eppes Method II – A talk with Liz**

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_I don't own Numb3rs, CBS or any of the characters._

_This is a sequel to "The Eppes Method I – Forgiveness". Thanks to everyone for the nice reviews and encouragement to keep writing._

_Last warning: This story contains the recollection of a disciplinary spanking of an adult. No slash._

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That Saturday night after Colby's spanking, the Eppes house was full of laughter and happiness. Megan and David had come over for dinner and even Liz Warner was there. It was Colby who had suggested to Don to invite her with a mischievous grin and he good naturedly agreed.

Both Megan and David noticed that Colby seemed much happier. Something must have happened to get him out of the funk he'd been in since the thing with Dwayne went down. And obviously the boss hadn't killed him for the events of the previous day. Everything seemed to be right with the team again which was a relief.

During dinner everyone talked a lot and Alan shared funny stories about Don and Charlie as kids which delighted the agents. Both brothers took it with a lot of humor. When Colby came back from getting more beer, Megan noticed that he sat down very gingerly and began to wonder. She had heard rumors about Don's time at Quantico. Could it be possible that he had punished Colby physically? For a moment she was appalled but then she looked at Colby's laughing face and thought to herself, "Whatever he did, it really worked," and decided to trust her boss.

Later Charlie and Alan took care of the dishes while Don showed Liz the house. Megan and David used their chance to ask Colby what was going on. They were astonished to see their usually so confident – except maybe for the last couple weeks – teammate blush and just mumble, "We had a talk." Megan felt her suspicions confirmed but she just looked at David with a shrug.

At the same time Liz and Don stood in the backyard looking at the house.

"So you told my agent about the 'Eppes-Method' as you guys used to call it?" Don asked Liz with a grin.

She smiled back at him sheepishly, "Sorry about that. I thought you were still using it and just wanted to make him feel better."

"I see." Don replied.

"And from the looks of it, you did make use of it again, didn't you?" Liz asked curiously.

"How did you know? I though Colby seemed very normal today." Don replied surprised.

Liz laughed, "Maybe to you but I just met him a few days ago. He definitely seemed different to me, like a weight had been lifted."

"I guess you have a point," Don couldn't help but smile too, "I really hadn't thought it would work as well as it did back then but there was no difference."

"Yeah, I remember it 'working' on me." Liz said with a grimace involuntarily putting a hand on her backside remembering Don's punishments.

"You know, I always disliked having to spank any of you but I hated spanking you in particular." Don told her.

"Oh," was all Liz could answer. In a weird way she felt hurt by the older agent's statement.

Seeing the look in her eyes Don hurried to say, "No, don't get me wrong. You were a terrific recruit. I enjoyed teaching you. But you had this little problem with adrenaline and following orders which meant I had to spank you quite a bit more than most of the others – especially the girls."

"Oh, I remember that," Liz said with a rueful smile.

"Well and not only that. You were so stubborn that you just clenched your teeth and tensed up during your spankings. It would take forever for you to let go and accept a punishment. I was always afraid of hurting you – at least until I discovered the secret of handling Liz Warner." Don laughed.

"What do you mean?" she looked at him askance.

"You don't remember that? One time you got into a fight with one of your classmates on the shooting range. Both of you got into a shouting match but you were the one who completely disregarded gun safety. You still had it loaded in your hands. I asked the other student to meet me at my office that night but I had to do something with you right away. You were completely out of control. So I just dismissed the class and hauled you into my office. I was so disappointed and angry with you that I even considered using my belt – something I had never done before. On the way you asked me a couple times if you could go to your room first. I didn't really understand why and when I offered you to go to my office bathroom you declined. We got to my office and I asked you if you needed the lecture first or if you understood why you are being punished. You did your typical thing – just crossed your arms and looked at me defiantly without answering. That really did it that day. I took my belt off and ordered you to drop your pants. But you just plain refused."

"Oh, I remember that," Liz said blushingly, "I actually wanted to obey you but I just could not bring myself to do it."

"Yeah, so I put you over my knees, gave you a few licks with my belt on your pants but you were tense as usual. I knew that if I waited for you to take down your own pants I'd spank you too much so I gave up on that idea and took them down myself. That was when I discovered that you were not exactly wearing 'full cut underwear'," Don grinned, "which I assumed was the reason you had wanted to go to your room so badly."

Liz groaned and laughed at the same time slightly embarrassed, "I think I purposefully repressed this part."

Don continued, "Obviously, I wasn't going to use my belt on your bare butt and I didn't really want to use anything else either. I had never spanked any of my students bare. But letting you change or putting your pants back up wasn't really an option either. So in the end I just used my hand and the most surprising thing happened. After relatively few spanks you just gave in and let go. You were crying over my knees and apologizing. I hated to do it but from then on I continued spanking you bare because it seemed to work so much better." Don smiled a little sad in reminiscence.

"That was the reason for it?" Liz asked, "I never could quite figure out why I was spanked that way and the others weren't. Because I don't think you got the full story. You know, that fight at the shooting range? I dated that guy which was of course against the rules. He broke up with me that day and when you spanked me I was still so upset that I just could not help crying. Afterwards you told me that you were proud of me for accepting my punishment instead of fighting it stubbornly as you put it and only then did it even occur to me that it was okay for you if we cried. Before that I always thought you expected us to be stoic. When I didn't have to be anymore, it was so much easier by the way," Liz smiled sheepishly.

Don looked at her astonished, "That was the reason you stopped fighting your spankings? Not the fact that you got it on the bare?"

"Well, don't get me wrong. That didn't help and made the whole thing more child-like but yes in essence I only understood that day that it was ok for me to cry." Liz responded.

"I have to apologize to you, Liz. If I had known that I would have told you earlier and I also wouldn't have needed to spank you the way I did. I really am sorry." Don said with feeling.

"Oh, don't be. I know that I deserved each and every one of your spankings and I never felt treated unfairly because mine were bare – just puzzled. And you were never ever inappropriate. I know your punishments made me a better agent – even a better person. And …," she added with an impish grin, "they almost got me over my problem with adrenaline."

"Almost?" Don smiled relieved that she didn't hold a grudge against him, "You better watch out around me, Agent Warner. Don't think I won't re-introduce you to the 'Eppes-Method' if you need it. Last night convinced me that it still works."

She looked at him with soft but serious eyes, "I believe you and I'll try to make you proud. But now we should better go back inside before the others call 911 on us." With these words she turned towards the house.

"I'll always be proud of you, Liz. You have no idea how much." Don whispered softly to himself.


End file.
